Cheesy Corn Casserole

This is my best cheesy corn casserole yet – tons of corn flavor and super cheesy! Perfect for holiday side dishes or summer picnics.

With Thanksgiving only a week away, I have holiday food on the brain!

Yesterday, I went on and on about pies when I shared with you my cranberry cheesecake crumb pie, and today I feel like we need to talk about quite possibly my favorite part of Thanksgiving dinner – the side dishes! How do you rank your Thanksgiving foods? For me, side dishes rank wayyyyy higher than the turkey itself, which is insane since we spend so much time and energy fretting over how to prepare it and making sure it comes out absolutely perfect.

This will be the third (!) corn casserole that I’ve shared here on the site, and approximately the umpteenth I’ve actually made in the last handful of years. Corn casserole recipes (especially the cheesy variety) are like chocolate chip cookies or brownies for me – I can rarely see a recipe for one and not be tempted to make it immediately, even if I’ve already declared a favorite.

The previous two corn casserole recipes that I’ve shared (here and here) were both based on a corn muffin mix, and while they are both totally delicious, I wanted a great recipe that didn’t use any packaged ingredients.

This recipe delivered on all accounts – no packages, tons of corn flavor, LOTS of cheese, and it makes enough to serve a crowd at Thanksgiving dinner (although I wouldn’t bank on leftovers!).

I actually made this for the first time over the summer to go along with BBQ ribs, and it was fantastic.

So don’t be tempted to pigeon hole this cheesy corn casserole as holidays-only. You should totally make this for Thanksgiving, for Christmas, and a million other times throughout the year. It’s way too good to only dust off once a year!

23 comments on “Cheesy Corn Casserole”

Made this corn casserole for our Thanksgiving this year and holy cow, it was amazing!! I’d never had a cheesy corn casserole before but let me tell you: now I’m hooked! Think I might have to try making it again for some more folks at Christmas, it was just so good. Thanks so much for sharing this delicious recipe.

This recipe did not deliver. Followed the directions and ingredients to the “t” so try it first before a major event like Thanksgiving. Would half the cayenne pepper and add more sour cream or cheese or maybe cream cheese if ur inclined to try. Not a fav of our family. The texture was just too stiff not cheesy at all. ?

Hi Emily, The consistency wouldn’t work for those substitutions. You can’t taste sour cream in the finished dish – it just helps with moisture and to balance the sweetness. The only substitute I would feel comfortable suggesting would be plain yogurt.

I would like to make this a little ahead of time for Thanksgiving. How far in advance, if at all, do you think I could make this without baking and then bake it on the day I’d serve it and still have good results?? Would love to do it the night before……Thank you!

Hi Carol, my guess would be the baking powder might lose its action if you made it all up and then left it uncooked for any length of time. If I wanted to make it ahead of time I’d do as much pre-prep as I could (whisk the dry ingredients together, grate the cheese, make the corn puree etc) the night before but I wouldn’t mix it all together until the day…or I’d cook it the day before and reheat it.

Hi Carol, As Chris mentioned, the leavening factor might decrease a bit. That being said, (and I haven’t tested this as a make-ahead), but I don’t think it would ruin it to assemble it the night before.